From: sbharris@ix.netcom.com(Steven B. Harris)
Subject: Re: Plutonium really the "most toxic poison known to man"?
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 1997
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.urban,alt.folklore.science,sci.physics,sci.chem,
	sci.space.policy,sci.med

In <347A5360.4DA7DA76@mailexcite.com> Bill Bonde
<stderr@mailexcite.com> writes:
>
>Paul Dietz wrote:
>
>> Totto wrote:
>>
>> > Agree to that one, Radium is a LOT more toxic than Plutonium... and then
>> > there is the radiation, in addition.
>>
>> No, the toxicity *is* radiotoxicity.  No "in addition".
>
>Are you saying that but for the radioactive part, both Radium and
>Plutonium are non-toxic?



I don't know about Pu, but I would expect soluble radium compounds to
have chemical toxicity about like soluble barium compounds.  Which is
considerable, at least on the chemical scale.  Barium chloride was used
in rat poisons.  I imagine a gram or two of radium chloride or nitrate
would kill you in a few days, even without the radiation toxicity
(which would be considerable, to be sure, as 1 gram of Ra = 1000
milliCuries by definition :).  Bye, bye bone marrow).

Radium sulfate, of course, would have no chemical toxicity at all.

BTW, names of elements are not capitalized.  Chemical symbols are.
Thus: radium chloride = RaCl2.

                                         Steve Harris, M.D.